


Empty Promises

by ubercharge



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: M/M, Oneshot, Post-War, answered prompt, non-class names, the usual convoluted bullshit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2015-07-28
Packaged: 2018-04-11 19:31:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4449410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ubercharge/pseuds/ubercharge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <b><a href="http://sugartits23.tumblr.com/">sugartits23</a> a dit :</b>
  <br/>
  <i>Hi, babe! So you are taking prompts? Can you do some hotty hot SniperSpy, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese~ ;V;! I love you, muaks <3</i>
</p><p>I hope this is exactly what you wanted, Negu. ;)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Empty Promises

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sugartits23](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=sugartits23).



“What do you mean he just left?”

“I meant exactly what I said. He just left.”

The former RED Spy was standing in front of the former RED Sniper, leaning against the other kitchen counter. They were in the Sniper’s house. It was late, well past midnight, but that didn’t matter to either person.

“He wouldn’t... he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t just do that, Lawrence.”

Lawrence peered at his friend. He wore regular glasses instead of aviators, now that he didn’t spend his days out in the sun all the time. But he didn’t look so different - not really. More tan, with some more wrinkles... still had the sideburns, though.

“Well then you’re wrong, because that’s what he did, René.”

René had a conflicted expression on his face and made a few frustrated noises. He ran a bare hand through black hair, greying.

“There has to be more to it than that,” René sighed.

Lawrence gave a shrug, feeling the smooth, cold counter heat up under the press of his palms.

“There has to!” René insisted.

Lawrence put a finger to his lip. “Shh,” he said, frowning. “Kids’re asleep, remember?”

René took a breath and relaxed again.

“Besides,” Lawrence said. “He was never really the type to settle. Havin’ a kid... that kinda thing didn’t suit him much.”

“You know he would’ve tolerated it for you,” René said softly.

Lawrence grunted. “Maybe he would’ve, maybe not. But he left before Isaac was even born, so I guess we’ll never know.”

“When?” René asked. “When did he go?”

Lawrence shot him a glare, but answered nonetheless, “‘Bout a month after we left RED. Told him...” He took a deep breath. “Told him not to go. Told him not to run off. Begged him not to leave me, ‘cause I knew he was considerin’ it.”

René shook his head. “I don’t think he wanted to leave you, I think there was more to it than that...”

Lawrence rubbed his face with a hand. “Whatever he was tryin’ to run away from, it must’ve been big. He promised me he wouldn’t go, René. Said it’d kill him, not gettin’ to sleep with me every night. Guess he didn’t mean it the way I thought he did. He’s not the type to break promises, but these things happen, don’t they?”

“‘These things happen’? Is that all you have to say?” René had sadness in his voice, in his eyes. “Don’t you miss him?”

Lawrence’s eyes flashed. A warning.

His voice was low as he replied, “Every bleedin’ day, mate. Every bleedin’ day I miss that spook.”

“I might not have known you as well back then, but I knew you well enough. The relationship between you and that Spy... What you have with Jeanette doesn’t compare, and it never will.”

“Funny thing, that,” Lawrence said. “He told me once, there was a kind of passion he had. Just for me. And I told him I felt the same way even though I didn’t get love, not really, ‘til he taught me it was more than what I always thought it was. He knew before I did, before you did, that what we had... it was somethin’ special.” His tone grew bitter. “But not special enough.”

René raised an eyebrow. “So you moved to Adelaide, married a woman, had a child... for what? To fill the void?”

Lawrence growled. “Don’t talk about my life like it’s some kind of sob story. You know Jeanie wouldn’t have appreciated your pity.”

“She was a fierce woman, but very kind.”

“And Isaac...” Lawrence shook his head. “I’m no dad type, but it’s amazing to watch him grow up. Y’know?”

René closed his eyes. “I know,” he said.

“The sooner you accept it that he’s not comin’ back, the better. It’s been five bleedin’ years, René. I know you’ve been more than busy with your own kid to check on me, or him, or anyone else, but what happened, happened.”

“It’s just hard for me to believe,” René sighed.

“I’ve gotten over him, can’t you? You didn’t even know him that well.”

René’s gaze flicked up to his friend’s. It was true, Lawrence was always closer to the Spy. But that didn’t change what René himself knew and had gotten to know over the last few years with RED. There had been love. He knew that, he saw it. He saw the changes in Lawrence’s disposition just a few _days_ after they’d gotten together. There had been happiness, and sweet moments shared in the dark of night. There had been quiet conversations between members of both teams who were privy to the secret about the relationship.

And none of that had changed. Years had passed, hard years of war, and the pair had been infallible. They’d found something in each other that could not be replaced. More than kisses, more than sex, more than _strength,_ they’d found true love. As cliché as that sounded, René knew that was the only apt descriptor of it.

It was love.

So of course he didn’t understand how the two had split. He’d only re-instigated contact with Lawrence about four years ago, so they’d already been separated for a year. René hadn’t understood it. No explanation, half-baked or otherwise, that Lawrence had offered would make René understand why. When Lawrence invited him to the wedding between him and Jeanette, René had personally been horrified.

Of course he’d gone. He wasn’t going to miss his friend’s wedding, even if it was across the world. It hadn’t bothered René much at all; he loved flying. He’d missed his old teammate, to boot.

And yet, over the years, the BLU Spy’s sudden disappearance hadn’t gotten any easier to understand. Lawrence had politely requested - on multiple occasions - for René _not_ to look into it. Out of respect, he hadn’t.

Twice a year or so, René would fly down to Adelaide and visit Lawrence. This was both before and after Jeanette’s funeral. Now René was on one of his visits. He’d brought his son along, figuring it was important for the boy to meet Lawrence’s. And the kids were asleep, had been asleep for a while now. It wasn’t the _perfect_ opportunity for René to beg for the truth, but it was all he had.

“You’re right, I didn’t know him that well,” René said. “But I like to think I knew him well _enough._ The last person he’d lie to is you. Don’t you think there was some reason he left? A very good reason to look into?”

“How many times have I told you not to look into it?”

“He might’ve been your lover, but he was my friend, too, Lawrence. I’m tired of thinking that the best thing for us to do for him is to just sit around.”

“We aren’t sittin’ around, mate... We’ve got kids to raise, remember?”

“I cannot deny that that is true. But I’m going to look into it.”

Lawrence straightened.

“Don’t,” he said, sounding firm.

“I’ve made up my mind.”

Lawrence grabbed René’s shoulders. He had tears in his eyes.

“Please don’t,” he whispered, hanging his head.

How was he supposed to admit it? That if René dredged something up, it might be the exact opposite of what Lawrence wanted to hear? He wasn’t ready for the possibilities. Five years later, and he wasn’t ready. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be ready. There were closed wounds that, if they were re-opened, would sting enough to break him.

Lawrence wasn’t ready to be broken. Not again.

René removed his friend’s hands off of his shoulders.

“Just trust me,” he said quietly. “Trust the part of you that trusted him when you started to love him. The part of you that would turn your back to him, even if he had a knife in each hand. You can’t tell me that you really believe he’d leave just because he wanted a new adventure.”

Lawrence was crying, but he was silent. It was disconcerting. René patted his back.

“Ever since he fell in love with you, _you_ have been his adventure.”

“Don’t you dare get yourself killed out there, René,” Lawrence whispered.

“Me?” René asked, laughing. “Rest assured, I will be fine, mon ami. Now tell me... did he leave anything with you?”

“What, besides the empty promises?” Lawrence snapped. His sudden anger was gone in a flash. “Left a few cloaking watches, but I’ve checked ‘em myself. They’re ordinary. But he also left me his RED ID tags.”

Lawrence pulled the dog tag necklace off, and handed it to René.

“Do you not wear your own? Why do you wear his?”

Lawrence shrugged. “Don’t wanna forget him. Had my own buried with Jeannie.”

“Ah, right,” René said, thumbing the metal tags with their navy blue rubber silencers. “Your trust in me is colossal. I appreciate it, and I am honoured.”

“Just don’t lose ‘em,” Lawrence muttered.

“I won’t. Believe me when I say this is clue enough.”

“Yeah. The writing on the third one, the blank one... he said that to me a lot.”

“I know,” René replied, taking another look at the tags before pocketing them in his jacket. “It does seem like the kind of thing he would say.”

_Catch me if you can, cher._

_-X_


End file.
